Elmore Family Watterson
by V-StarDraws
Summary: The Watterson's leave their hometown to go on a free cruise vacation they won through a sweepstakes. However, they get shipwrecked after the cruise is caught in the middle of a violent storm at sea! Accidentally left behind, the Watterson's now have to work together to survive on a deserted island while they wait to be rescued. Will they ever get back home again? (Cartoon X-Overs)
1. The Sweepstakes

**Author's Note: This story is a direct parody of Swiss Family Robinson. It was originally called "Swiss Family Watterson," but the name was changed since the family came from Elmore, not Switzerland.**

 **I do not own any of these characters. They respectfully belong to Ben Bocquelet and Cartoon Network, as well as Disney, Nickelodeon, & Hasbro. This fan-made story is made solely for entertainment purposes. **

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Sweepstakes**

It was a bright and sunny Thursday afternoon in the large city of Elmore, where most of its eccentric citizens continued their regular, and somewhat unusual, routines like they did almost everyday. For Gumball Watterson however, it was just another long, boring day at his school Elmore Junior High. Sure, weird things always happened in his hometown, but he became so used to them, they became normal occurrences to him. As for school, everyday was exactly the same. Receiving homework from Miss Simian, sitting and eating throughout lunchtime, and so on. It was as if nothing ever changed there. Deep down, he wished something amazing, even more so than the crazy hijinks of Elmore, would happen for once. That was when he decided to ask his adoptive brother Darwin an important question as they sat all the way in the back of the school bus they were taking home, along with their younger sister Anais, after school was over for the day.

"Darwin?"

The young goldfish turned to his older brother. "Yeah?"

"Have you ever wished something interesting would happen in your life sometimes?"

After listening to Gumball's question, he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm not sure. Weird things always happen here in Elmore."

The 12-year old decided to be more specific. "I mean something _way_ out of the ordinary. Like winning a contest, getting chased by a group of bandits, or discovering a new land."

Looking at the eagerness on the blue cat's face, the 10-year old began to ponder on it more. "Now that you mention it…I agree with the contest and the new land, but the bandits, not so much."

"Darwin does have a point there." Anais agreed as she listened in on the conversation of her older brothers. "Contests are pretty common, but having bandits chase after you would arouse a lot of fear and discovering an unknown land is incredibly rare nowadays."

She saw the disheartened look on her eldest brother's face, so she decided to reassure him.

"But…I'm sure some event will come up eventually. Things happen when you least expect it after all."

She was a bit relieved when Gumball's face lit up at that. Even though Anais was normally a realist, it didn't mean she was unsupportive of the 12-year old cat's wishes for most of the time.

As Rocky slowed down at the bus stop on their home street, the Watterson kids bid him farewell and went straight to their house, with the youngest one pulling out the house key from her pocket once they got there and unlocking the door to the living room. Richard's head popped right out of the kitchen doorway as he heard his children come in.

"Hey kids!" he greeted them in a chipper tone. "How was school today?"

Gumball shrugged his shoulders in response. "The usual. Same classroom lessons, same lunchtime, same gym lessons, you get how it goes."

Darwin and Anais rolled their eyes at their brother's snarky comment.

"Oh. Well, okay." The gigantic pink rabbit retreated back into the kitchen to fix some snacks for himself to satisfy his voracious appetite.

While the 4-year old prodigy headed upstairs to her bedroom to read during her leisure time, Gumball and Darwin sat down on the couch to see what was on TV. Right when the blue cat turned the device on…

"Hiya folks! Do any of you wish you could take a break from the same old boring routines of everyday life and experience the joys of a long, relaxing vacation?"

The host was none other than Mickey Mouse himself, one of the most well known celebrities among the Toons.

"Mickey Mouse? I wonder what this is all about." The blue cat wondered out loud to himself and his brother as they watched the screen. This advertisement immediately caught their interest.

"Well, enter into the Seven Seas Sweepstakes to win a free trip aboard the Seven Seas cruise ship itself for 5 Days and 4 Nights!"

The camera zoomed out quickly to reveal a large ship behind the mouse, who presented the whole thing by spreading his arms out wide for the viewers to see.

"A cruise ship?" Darwin perked up at this. "I wonder what's inside."

"This ship offers some of the best luxuries you could find during this marine voyage!"

When Mickey Mouse finished his sentence, the commercial cut to a Balcony Suite inside.

"Warm and cozy cabins!" One of Mickey's friends, Goofy, presented it to the audience as the balcony overlooked the ocean behind him, with two Minions (Despicable Me) standing by him on both sides doing the same.

"Delicious restaurants and buffets!" Minnie Mouse appeared next, with one of the chefs, Princess Tiana, Mung Daal, and Kronk, as they all introduced a large buffet containing one of the most appetizing dishes anyone could find.

"Lively swimming pools!" Donald Duck was up next as he showed off the swimming pool area with his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, going down a huge water slide to prove their uncle's point.

"Relaxing spas!" Daisy Duck stood with Brandy Harrington, Lotus Blossom and Aloe (The spa twins from My Little Pony) as they presented the spa and boutique.

"And exciting entertainment!" Pete and Buster Moon introduced the theater room, standing right in front of the stage, along with the Sing cast, Cats Don't Dance performers, and the Trolls (2016 movie) standing on top of it.

"But that's not all!" Mickey Mouse came back onto the TV screen outside the ship, with his pet dog Pluto standing by him this time, barking happily to the viewers who were watching.

"While you parents out there relax on the ship, your children will be hanging out at the Kids Cove," Pinkie Pie, the host of the room, showed off the play place as she threw confetti into the air. "…and the Teens Turf, having the time of their lives!" The screen cut to Max Goof, Goofy's teenaged son, showing off the second room as its host, with his two best friends, Bobby and PJ (from the Goofy Movie), introducing themselves along with him.

For the last scene, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, and the rest of the main staff (consisting only of Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Daisy, and Pete) appeared on the main deck of the cruise ship.

"So if you want to have the greatest adventure of your life, visit our website at  sweepstakes in order to win this free vacation for you and your entire family! Hurry though! We'll be setting sail on May 6th, and this offers ends this upcoming Sunday night, so very few people would be fortunate enough to receive this prize!"

The commercial came to an end as everyone said their final line with the company's logo showing up. "Seven Seas! Ocean Luxuries to enjoy in the Breeze!"

Gumball and Darwin sat still on the couch, mesmerized by what they had watched. They didn't even bother to pay any attention to the other programs on the screen. Slowly, they turned to one another.

"Darwin…are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah…"

At an instant, they both shouted out the same thought. "WE NEED TO SIGN UP FOR THAT SWEEPSTAKES!"

Richard, who was eating in the kitchen, jumped up at the sudden shouting coming form the living room, nearly dropping his gigantic sandwich.

"Boys! Is there something wrong?!" He asked his sons as he popped out from the kitchen doorway again.

"No!" They both exclaimed to their dad in a happy tone.

"What's going on down there?!" Anais called from upstairs as she heard the screaming too.

"Nothing!" Gumball yelled back to his sister before turning to his brother. "I'm going onto that website right now!"

The blue cat dashed up the stairs, with Darwin right behind him, and headed straight into their bedroom, turning on the computer and going to the Seven Seas website to sign up for the contest. Thankfully, today was April 19th (two weeks and a half away from the day the cruise would set sail), so he entered his name, how many people were in their family, their home address, and the type of room they could share (the Balcony Suite). Before he could click the "Enter" button though…

"Gumball, wait! Shouldn't we ask Mrs. Mom for permission before we do this?"

"Oh come on, Darwin!" The 12-year old cat huffed out. "This is our only chance! There could be other people out there signing up for this right now and win the prize before we could!"

"I know that! But…I just don't want us to do this without telling everybody else."

Looking at the unsure expression on the 10-year old, Gumball sighed and began to reassure him as much as possible.

"I don't like to do something behind our family's backs either. Well, most of the time, but this is a _free vacation_ for crying out loud! Something like this could _never_ happen again for the rest of our lives! Don't you want something fun and exciting to happen to us like always? Don't you want us to spend some quality time together as a family to make some unforgettable memories?"

This was one of the few moments where Gumball actually had a point. All of the things they saw on the cruise ship commercial looked _extremely_ promising, but at the same time, he didn't want him and his older brother to cover something up like this from their parents and younger sister. So he took a deep breath and sighed, making his final decision…

"Alright. Let's do this."

The young cat immediately perked up at the answer. "I knew you'd come through with it!"

With one click, the Watterson's were officially contestants for the Seven Seas Sweepstakes. A message popped up on the screen, congratulating the boys and notifying them about a letter containing the winning tickets coming through to them a week from today if they were chosen as winners, meaning they would have to wait until next Thursday on April 25th.

"One week from today? Pfft, I'm sure we could handle waiting for that long." Gumball stated in a confident tone.

Darwin agreed with him. "Yeah. We can do this."

However, they proved themselves wrong when they constantly checked inside the mailbox multiple times throughout the following days.

* * *

 **Well, that's the end of the first chapter. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out so far. In the next one, we'll see the reactions of the other family members when they find out about this contest.**

 **UPDATE (1/11/2019):** **This story will be taking place in 2019 to keep up with the current year, so I made several changes to the dates throughout the chapters to correspond with it.**


	2. The Letter

**Elmore Family Watterson**

 **Chapter 2: The Letter**

Anais was the first to notice how strange Gumball and Darwin were behaving lately, even more so than they usually were. Since last Thursday, they've been checking through their mailbox multiple times almost everyday, even going so far as to be on lookout through the living room window. This was _not_ something they normally did, since most of the time, they would watch TV, look up funny videos/play games on the computer, or hang out with some of their friends from school. But constantly checking the mailbox was _completely_ out of the ordinary for them. Whenever the 4 year-old would ask the boys out of concern as to what they were eager to receive from the mailman, the only responses she would get were, "It's a secret" or "We'll tell you later." What first started out as never-ending curiosity inside the young pink rabbit grew into impatient annoyance the more her brothers kept this "so-called" secret from her. It's been a week now (on April 25th) and the Watterson kids had finished another typical day at school. When they had entered into the house, Gumball and Darwin immediately dashed to the window with excitement growing inside of them as minutes passed by.

"Do you see anything?" The blue cat questioned his younger brother as the goldfish viewed the street through his binoculars.

"Not yet. The message did say it should be here today."

Their irritated baby sister stomped over to them the moment they approached the window. She needed answers right here, right now!

"Alright, you two! What could be so important that you have to stand at the window so much?! It's already been a week now, so I want to know!"

Unfortunately for her, the mail truck had pulled up in front of the house before they could tell her.

"IT'S FINALLY HERE!" Both the Watterson boys dashed outside to receive their mail of the day. Anais huffed out angrily at this.

The mailman, who was the elderly purple moose living next door to the Watterson's, was quite surprised to see the two boys approach him the moment he pulled up, so he began to greet them politely.

"Hello, boys. Here's all your mail right here, including this little golden package. There must be something _real_ special in here for you guys."

Darwin grabbed the mail while his older brother got the package.

"Thanks Mr. Mailman, sir!"

Gumball read off the package to see if it was from the Seven Seas Company, and his expectations proved him right. Taped to the package was another letter like the rest of the family mail, but with the cruise logo stamped on it. He sure hoped it had what he thought it did…

"Darwin! Into the house now! We have to see what's inside!"

With excitement growing inside of him, the 12 year-old grabbed his younger brother and ran back into the small, blue house. After the mailman left, he shut the door behind him and showed the package to the goldfish, with Anais approaching the boys after they came back inside. She immediately became curious once she caught sight of the golden package in Gumball's hands.

"Uh, guys, what is that?"

The blue cat saw this as the perfect opportunity to surprise his sister.

"You'll see once we open this baby up!"

He took the letter off the package and, to raise suspension in the air, slowly ripped the top open and saw a piece of paper all folded up, containing something inside. So he proceeded to do the same thing he did with the envelope by slowly unfolding it, with Darwin holding his breath in anticipation and Anais leaning in to take a better look.

 _Please be the tickets…_

 _Please be the tickets…_

 _Please be the tickets…_

When the paper was fully opened all the way, Gumball and Darwin gasped in shock as they saw, not one, not two, but _five winning tickets_ for the entire Watterson family to go on the cruise ship! This, of course, caused both the Watterson boys to cheer out loud.

"YAAAAY! WE WON THE WINNING TICKETS!"

Anais jumped up at this and was now downright confused.

"Winning tickets? What are all of those for?"

The blue cat handed the paper over to the toddler, jumping with excitement.

"Read it for yourself!"

"Yeah! We wanted to surprise you all with this!" Darwin exclaimed.

So the young prodigy proceeded to follow their instructions, reading the letter out loud.

 _Dear Sir/Madam,_

 _Congratulations! You are one of the chosen winners of the Seven Seas Sweepstakes to take a free trip on our luxurious cruise ship for 5 days and 4 nights starting on May 6_ _th_ _! The ship will be waiting for you at the Californian docks, so make sure you prepare to come all the way over here to experience one of the most exhilarating festivities of your life! We are more than welcome to have you on board!_

 _With Best Regards,_

 _Captain Mickey Mouse_

To say Anais was surprised after reading the winning letter would be a huge understatement. In fact, she was _downright astonished_ that the entire family would be awarded with something as major as this!

She, at the moment, was frozen with shock, trying her hardest to get more words out of her mouth. The Watterson boys were worried for their baby sister, so Darwin tried to get her attention.

"Um, Anais…is something wrong?"

"…How…How did this happen? When did you guys do this?"

When she fully recovered from her state, Gumball proceeded to give her the news.

"Well Anais, it all started when we turned on the TV and watched the commercial about it last Thursday when we came home from school."

Darwin gave the gigantic Seven Seas book over to the young girl to take a quick peek.

"Take a look inside! This ship has _everything_!"

Anais' second older brother proved to be right as she flipped through every page of the magazine. It contained a map of the entire ship, featuring all different types of cabins, restaurants, stores, pool areas, and much more. At the same time, the eldest Watterson child continued with his explanation.

"And we both decided we could use a vacation for once. Well, unlike that creepy road trip we went on, but still. So we thought, 'why not' and decided to sign up for it immediately before the sweepstakes ended last Sunday night."

"Guys…I don't know how else to say this but…this is amazing! And Mickey Mouse is hosting it? _The_ Mickey Mouse?! He's one of the most popular celebrities around here! But wait! Does Mom know about this yet?"

Gumball was caught off-guard by this, as well as Darwin.

"Well…no, not yet. But we'll tell her about it when she gets home."

"As much as I want to go on this vacation too, I'm not sure if we'll have enough money for all of the activities we'd want to do. Sure, we won the trip for free, but almost everything would cost money on there."

The blue cat pondered over this when Anais finished her explanation. Even the middle child began to agree.

"Actually, Anais does have a point there. Does our family even have the money for everything that's going to be on the cruise?"

Worry began to grow a little inside Gumball. The last thing he wanted was to spend time on the ship doing _absolutely_ nothing due to a lack of cash.

"I'm…pretty sure things will turn out well for us. We'll see what Mom will think. I just hope she says yes."

The Watterson kids decided to watch some TV (since they had no homework for the night), waiting for their mother to come home after discussing about the trip together.

* * *

Nicole was driving home in the early evening after a whole day of working. It could get pretty stressful at times, but with her best friend Yuki (the manager's wife) helping her out, it lifted her spirits to get her through the day. She may have been a workaholic most of the time, but even she needed a break once in a while. When she pulled over to the driveway in front of the house, she got out the car, thinking about what to cook for dinner. Right when she unlocked the door, her two sons stood right there at the doorway, greeting her happily.

"Hi Mom!"

"Hi Mrs. Mom!"

"AH!" Nicole jumped up in fear the moment she heard them, but recovered immediately when she realized they were glad to see her after a long day.

"You really didn't have to do that, you guys." Anais rolled her eyes in amusement after watching the funny display of her mom jumping in fear because of her brothers.

"Hi kids. How was school today?"

"It was good as usual. But there's something great we want to show you!" Gumball decided to hand the letter over to his mom the moment she came inside.

Nicole wondered what the great surprise was. "What's this?"

"Take a look inside!"

The children eagerly watched their mother look inside the opened envelope, taking out the paper and finding 5 tickets underneath.

"Tickets? What could these possibly be…?"

Before she could finish her sentence, she read the winning paper and became filled with shock once she got to the bottom of the page.

"A free cruise ship vacation?! Kids, how did this happen?!"

Just like what he had to do with Anais from earlier, Gumball happily explained the situation to Nicole. He gave her all of the details, from the cruise ship commercial to visiting the website to sign the entire family up for the sweepstakes. This was where all 3 of the Watterson kids went into full detail about the ship.

"Just check out the magazine." Anais happily handed the Seven Seas book over to the mother so she could look inside for herself. "This cruise has so many fun things in there! And the best part of all is that Mickey Mouse is the captain!"

Nicole's eyes widened at this. "Is that right?"

The eldest child began to chime in. "It's true! It has a gigantic pool area!"

"And a lot of restaurants, including a limitless buffet, which Mr. Dad would love!" Darwin added.

"And a relaxing spa you could go to if you're stressed out." The youngest child mentioned.

"And they have a hang-out area specifically for kids in case you and Dad want to walk around by yourselves!" Gumball told Nicole.

Eventually, all 3 of the Watterson children practically _begged_ the Watterson head if they could go on this trip. "So can we go, please, please, _PLEEASE_?!"

"Kids, calm down! We'll all discuss this over dinner, I promise. For now, I have to think about this, so you all head upstairs while I make the food, okay?"

The kids agreed to this plan. "Okay!"

After they headed upstairs, Nicole went to the kitchen to prepare tonight's dinner (consisting of Spaghetti and Meatballs with a side of Broccoli). At the same time, she couldn't help but think about the free cruise vacation the family had won. She was quite ecstatic at the thought of everyone going on this trip, but she was concerned as to whether they had enough money for the activities they wanted to do. Of course, the kids would be hanging out with some new friends they would make on the ship, she would want to go to the spa to relax and exercise at the gym, and as for her husband…well, he would probably be exploring every single restaurant the cruise had to offer. When the food was done, Nicole walked over to the counter and picked up the Seven Seas magazine, looking through every single page. The scenery of the pool area looked pretty refreshing, the special dishes served at the buffet were appetizing to her eyes, and the concerts looked lovely! She would be more than happy to visit those places! As a soft smile immediately appeared on the woman's face, she knew exactly how to get this family prepared for the trip…

* * *

Dinnertime had rolled by during the late evening, and the entire Watterson family was enjoying their food. The kids were anxiously waiting for their mom to start the discussion on whether they were going on the trip or not. The only one in the family who was clueless about the whole thing was Richard, who was asleep in his bedroom the whole day, making it even more urgent. As everyone finished his or her food, Nicole called for everyone's attention.

"Richard, kids, I have an announcement to make."

The children perked up at this while the father looked at his wife in curiosity. She pulled out both the letter and magazine to show off to them.

"We have recently received something special in the mail today, and it's from a cruise ship company called Seven Seas. It says right here that we are one of the chosen winners for a free trip on the cruise for 5 days and 4 nights." The head of the household pulled out the 5 winning tickets out of the letter to show proof.

"A free trip on the cruise?!"

Nobody was surprised at Richard's outburst.

"Wait. This isn't going to be like that creepy road trip we went on, is it?"

Nicole smiled at him amusingly while shaking her head. "No, Richard. A number of passengers will be on there as well. And there are going to be a bunch of festivities involving swimming pools, concerts, and restaurants, including a _mile-long buffet_."

As she emphasized the last part, the giant pink rabbit immediately fantasized about it.

"Mmmm…mile-long buffet…"

Gumball saw this as the perfect opportunity to ask her the important question.

"So does this mean we're going?"

The mother gave him a soft smile.

"Yes."

"Alright!" The 3 Watterson kids cheered out loud at the answer. It was Anais' turn to ask their mom some questions.

"So how are we going to travel there? The letter says the ship will be at the Californian docks."

The head of the household began to discuss the plans to her family.

"Simple. We'll arrange for a cab to take us there in the early morning since we also live in California, so it wouldn't take long to get there. Also, we would have to prepare ourselves throughout the next 3 days by cleaning the entire household so we wouldn't have to worry about the place being messy when we get back. Of course, I would have to work extra hours at my job to earn more money, buy some vacation supplies like sunscreen and pool floaters, and last but not least, we would have to call Granny Jojo and Grandpa Louie to watch the house for us while we're gone."

Nicole turned to her husband after finishing the last part.

"Richard, you would have to talk to your mom about our plans."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because your mom and I can't stand each other." She answered him in a deadpan tone.

Richard immediately understood. "Oh. Right."

"So am I clear on what we all have to do the next following days?"

Everyone answered her in a clear voice. "Yes!"

"Alright then, it's settled. Since we're all finished with dinner, it's time for you kids to get ready for bed. It's still a school night after all."

"Okay." Gumball, Darwin, and Anais obeyed their mother's orders, heading upstairs to get some rest. Thank goodness it was Friday tomorrow.

Each member of the Watterson family retreated into their sleeping quarters to get ready for a long, busy day in the morning. Before all of them could fully go to sleep, the mother had gone upstairs to tuck her children in and kiss them goodnight, starting with her youngest one.

"Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight, sweetie." Nicole kissed Anais' forehead after pulling the bed sheets over her, and went towards the doorway to switch the lights off, closing the door behind her as she exited the room. She walked down the hallway towards Gumball and Darwin's room to repeat the same thing, only to stop in her tracks when she heard the two boys moving some stuff around behind the closed door, meaning they were wide awake.

"Will this be good for the trip?" She heard Darwin's voice from the room.

Gumball's voice was heard next. "Yeah. Just try to pack up anything that would be useful."

 _What could those two possibly be doing this late at night?_

Whatever it was those boys were up to, Nicole was going to find for herself once she went into their bedroom. So she continued walking down the hall, approached the door, and turned the knob, opening it all the way to see what was happening…

A loud gasp escaped from Nicole's mouth.

She was absolutely _horrified_ at the sight before her very eyes! The entire room that belonged to the Watterson boys was a _hot mess_! Clothes were thrown out the drawers, comic books laid flat on the floor, even some of their electronics were carelessly moved about. After looking around the entire room with her mouth agape, her eyes laid on Gumball and Darwin, who were currently stuffing their belongings into their suitcases.

"Gumball and Darwin Watterson! What on _earth_ are you two doing?!"

"We're packing up for the trip." The eldest boy was so wrapped up in packing up his things that he failed to notice the shocked tone in his mother's voice.

"But have you two looked at the mess you made while doing that?! It looks like a tornado had just came in here!"

The middle child, of course, did his best to reassure her. "Sorry Mrs. Mom. We were so excited to go on the cruise ship next week, we couldn't sleep, so we decided to pack up early."

Nicole sighed, taking a moment to calm down before speaking again. "Boys, I understand how excited you are about this trip, and I appreciate how you're getting prepared ahead of time, but you have school in the morning. So could you get into bed, please?"

"Okay." The boys were disappointed they couldn't continue with their luggage, but they knew better than to go against their mother's orders ( _especially_ when it came to her infamous temper), so they obliged and got into their respective sleeping quarters (Gumball on the bottom of the bunk bed and Darwin inside his fishbowl). Their mother smiled and went over to kiss both of them on their foreheads.

"I promise we will all work together to get prepared when you get back from school tomorrow. Now goodnight you two."

"Goodnight!"

Making her way towards the door, Nicole made one last request to her sons.

"And _please_ make sure to clean your room when you first get up in the morning."

"Okay."

So she switched the lights off and closed the door, heading downstairs to her own room to rest. Before going to sleep, the Watterson boys cracked an eye open, whispering to one another in ecstatic tones.

"Hey Gumball, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. I can't wait 'till we go on that cruise."

"Me too, buddy."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Here are several facts for my Fanfic:**

 **\- In this story, all cartoon characters live in the same universe, so there will be tons of special appearances and cameos in the future chapters of the Seven Seas Cruise**

 **\- Some of the parts in this chapter (mostly with the letter and bedroom parts) were loosely based off a few scenes from the first episode of "Swiss Family Robinson: Flone of The Mysterious Island," which is one of my favorite old anime shows, so I'll be using the show for one of my inspirations.**

 **\- As for the fact that Elmore resides in California, the Trivia from the Amazing World of Gumball Wikia states that this fictional town was based off two Californian cities, Vallejo and San Francisco.**

 **UPDATE (1/11/19): This story will be taking place in 2019 to keep up with the current year, so I made several changes to the dates throughout the chapters to correspond with it.**


	3. The Countdown

**Here's Chapter 3, everyone!**

 **To avoid any confusion with the dates, they are based off the 2019 calendars of April and May.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Countdown**

FRIDAY (April 26th)

The Watterson kids had another day of school, which thankfully landed on everyone's favorite day of the week. Before they left the house earlier that morning, their mother told them they had to inform their teachers about their upcoming family trip the week before, so they would know what assignments and lessons they would have to catch up on to avoid falling behind. Right now, Gumball, Darwin, and Anais were sitting at the same table during lunch time, eating their food and discussing about what went on with each of their teachers.

"So how did it go for you, Anais?" The blue cat questioned his younger sister.

"My instructor told me that I would have to complete a test early before everyone else in my class since it will be held on the same day we leave. Not that I'm worried about it since I've studied for it early." She answered confidently. "What about you two?"

"Miss Simian told us we have to do a visual presentation of both the cruise and the ocean to make up for the ocean lessons we'll miss in class."

Darwin spoke up after Gumball finished. "So, this means we'll have to take lots of pictures and videos and talk about what we experienced during our trip."

"Did I hear that correctly? You all are going on a cruise trip?" Tobias, one of Gumball and Darwin's classmates, questioned the three. He was just sitting nearby on the same table as them when he overheard their conversation about the upcoming vacation.

"That's right!" The eldest Watterson sibling answered happily. "We won a sweepstakes we saw on TV last week to get a free vacation."

"Psh, as if," the egotistical rainbow cloud brushed him off. "You'd have to be incredibly lucky to win something like that."

"Think again!" Gumball stated as he pulled up a picture of the Seven Seas winning tickets on his phone.

Their classmate was beyond shocked at what he saw. "No way! Are you serious?!"

"Oh, I'm serious alright! We just got them in the mail yesterday!"

"Everyone's got to see this!" At that moment, Tobias waved his hand to all the other kids in the lunchroom. "Hey, you guys, Gumball and his family just won a free cruise vacation that they'll be leaving for soon!"

In less than a second, a bunch of other middle schoolers gathered around the table the Watterson kids resided at, wanting to look at the photo of their cruise tickets.

"Wow! Congrats, you guys!" Masami praised them.

"I bet this vacation will be a _breeze_ for you three!" Banana Joe joked.

"I hope you all will be safe during your trip," Penny, Gumball's girlfriend, told them.

"Congratulations on winning that free trip!" Rocky waved to them from behind the food counter.

"I have a feeling that nobody's going to leave us alone for all of next week," Darwin told Anais as they laid low on the table from the crowd of students.

The small pink rabbit nodded in agreement. "You and me both."

 **Meanwhile…**

At the Rainbow Factory, Nicole was working away at her computer and answering as many phone calls as possible at her station. Earlier, she informed her boss, Mr. Yoshida, about her upcoming vacation from May 6th to May 10th in two weeks and asked if she could work overtime for 12 hours (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.) from Sunday to Saturday for all next week. She'd be lying of she said she wasn't both grateful and relieved at the same time when he granted her request, so she was going to earn as much money as possible for her family to enjoy their trip. Lunchtime was beginning to approach for all the office workers, so putting her computer to rest, the blue cat woman grabbed her brown paper bag and left out of her station to meet up with her childhood friend Yuki Yoshida, the manager's wife and new overseer of the Rainbow Factory. Ever since the two ladies made up with one another over their broken friendship, they've been hanging out with each other non-stop in and out of work. As they entered the break room with their fellow co-workers and chose a table to sit at, Yuki questioned Nicole on what was new, with the latter telling her the whole story on how her two sons entered a sweepstakes and won a free cruise vacation for the whole family, which they'll be leaving for in two weeks.

"Nicole, that's amazing! A free cruise vacation? Nowadays, it's impossible to win something like that!"

"I know right? I knew Gumball and Darwin could be unpredictable at times, but for something like this? I never thought I'd see the day we'd have something this big to look forward to!"

The Watterson woman wasn't wrong either. Her family was so low on money for years, they couldn't afford to leave Elmore for anything. But now that they have the chance to go out of town for once, with new places to explore and new sights to see, the working mother had never been more excited for anything in her entire life!

"I sure wish my family and I could go on vacation someday," Yuki wished to herself. "But, since my husband is the head of this company, I don't think it would happen anytime soon. The Rainbow Factory would fall apart without him."

"Oh, I'm sure you all will think of something," Nicole reassured her friend. "I'll have to make sure I mentally prepare myself for next week. It won't be easy having to work 12 hours a day, but it'll all be worth it in the end."

The cloud woman smiled at her. "I sure am going to miss you, Nicole. Promise me you'll take as many videos and pictures as possible, so I can see what you all did."

"I won't let you down on that. I'm going to make sure we have the best vacation ever!"

Later that night…

"Alright, everyone! Here's what we're all going to do."

The matriarch of the Watterson family had everyone gathered up on the living room couch as she stood in front of them. If they were going to enjoy this vacation, they had to prepare early so they won't have to worry about anything they day before their departure. They were all going to discuss their plans right here, right now!

"We have only one week to get ready for this cruise ship, so we have to make sure we pack up our luggage and clean the entire household before we leave. Starting tomorrow, we pull out our suitcases and throw in whatever we'll be wearing or bringing."

"Yes ma'am!" Richard and the kids responded.

"Also, I'm assigning roles to each of you of what part you'll be playing while we're there."

Nicole began to point to her finger at each of her family members as she said their names, starting with her youngest child.

"Anais, you'll serve as the researcher and map holder of the Seven Seas."

"On it!"

"Darwin, you'll be in charge of taking videos and pictures of every place we explore."

"Roger that!"

"Gumball, you'll serve as our critic, saying what you like and don't like about the cruise."

"I won't let you down!"

"Richard, you'll be the food critic, trying out everything they have at the buffet."

"Yes! I got the best one!"

"As for me, I'll be in charge of keeping track of the money and tickets."

Now that everything was set in place, the main head of the household was confident things would go smoothly for them.

"Since that's out the way, we're going to get up bright and early tomorrow morning to make sure we get done what we need to get done. Got that, everyone?"

Determination drove into every single Watterson member as they answered her once again. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Alright, now let's get some rest. We've got a busy week ahead of us."

* * *

SUNDAY (April 28th)

"So according to this web page, there won't be any free Wi-Fi on the ship unless we pay for the Internet Program."

"I see."

Anais and Nicole were currently looking over what's free and what's not on the Seven Seas website showing on the young rabbit's laptop to make sure they wouldn't be charged extra while on vacation. Better safe than sorry after all.

"This means we won't be able to use our cell phones to talk to one another freely," The 4-year old continued. "However, we can use walkie-talkies while two groups of us are in different places."

The mother wrote all the information she was being told her note pad.

"Walkie-talkies it is."

Anais continued to scroll down on the web page.

"Also, as we already know, all the food and beverages in the buffet will be free, except for the soft drinks of course. You'll need the Seven Seas Unlimited Soda Program to get those."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"We have to make sure we take pictures of each of our suitcases in case one of them gets lost or delayed before boarding the ship."

"Alright then. We got all the information we need."

Finished with her writing, Nicole looked over the entire info list on her note pad, satisfied there was one less assignment to worry about.

* * *

THURSDAY (May 2nd)

(Gumball and Darwin's Room)

"Okay, Darwin, tell me if we have everything we need. Comic books?"

"Check!"

"Game consoles?"

"Check!"

"Pool floaties?"

"Check!"

"Water blasters?"

"Check!"

"Swim trunks, swimming caps, and goggles?"

"Check, check, and check!"

The 12-year old cat beamed with pride as they were all packed and ready to go."

(Anais' Room)

The 4-year old rabbit was going over her check list as she looked inside her neatly packed suitcase, happy with the fact she finished ahead of schedule.

"Pool floaters, check. Swimsuit, check. Sunscreen, check. Daisy the Donkey?"

A warm appeared on her face as she brought her doll up to her frontal view, hugging the stuffed animal tightly afterwards.

"Check."

(Richard and Nicole's Room)

With his wife away at work, the ginormous pink rabbit had all the time to pack up his suitcase on his own. However, instead of swimwear and other important things he might need, there was a large assortment of every single snack he could find from the kitchen pantry taking up the entire bag!

"Now let's see. Potato chips, check. Chocolate pudding, check. Graham crackers, check. Cheese sauce, check. Yep, I got everything I need!"

Closing up his luggage, he never felt prouder of himself at putting in the week's work.

* * *

SUNDAY (May 5th)

"Richard, you are _NOT_ bringing all of _THIS_ to the trip!"

"But Nicole, how am I supposed to keep my energy up on the way there tomorrow?"

The Watterson matriarch had completed her daunting task of working 12 hours a day for the whole entire week. While she managed to earn $1,029 ***** for the family (thank goodness!), it didn't mean she wasn't exhausted to no end. It also didn't help with the fact she was currently frustrated with what she found inside her husband's suitcase, taking out every single snack he stuffed in there and putting them all in a plastic bag to take them back to the kitchen. He was clearly upset and whined about it as well, but she wasn't going to leave any room for arguments.

"Because one, you're not allowed to eat on the shuttle bus. Two, it'll only take us an hour to get to the port. And three, there will be plenty of food on ship for us to eat!"

After she finished, she took a deep breath. "I promise we'll eat breakfast in the morning before the bus arrives at 12 p.m. tomorrow."

She proceeded to put his swim trunks and other vacation stuff into his suitcase before zipping it up and walking out their bedroom door with the bag of snacks, setting them down on the counter when she entered the kitchen.

"Is everything alright back there, Nicole?" Granny Jojo called out to her daughter-in-law as she sat on the couch alongside her new husband Louie, watching TV.

"Everything is fine," Nicole answered back. She was grateful Richard managed to call his mom and step-dad about their trip earlier this week while she called her own parents, Daniel and Mary Senicourt, who she was still making up with, herself. The elderly couples were more than happy to take turns house sitting while the family of five are gone.

Today, she was going through the process of elimination with every single member of the house, with her kids as the next ones on her list. She was glad she herself packed up her own suitcase in between the hours she was at home last week, otherwise it would mean extra work for her. As she headed upstairs, she checked up on Anais first to see if she needed any help, only to realize the young prodigy handled everything herself. This meant her two sons, Gumball and Darwin, were the only ones left.

"You don't need these or these." She told her sons as she took out piles of comic books and video games out of suitcases.

Like his father, the 12-year old cat got upset over every item getting pulled out. "But what if we get bored?"

"It's a cruise ship, there'll be lots of activities on board, as well as other kids you'll be associating with."

Gumball sighed in defeat, knowing he can't argue against that. "Oh, alright."

Darwin, on the other hand, was happily going over the instructions of a new camera case for his cell phone, which Nicole bought for him online alongside a plastic fish bowl to take while travelling (he still needed to sleep in one after all).

"Thanks for getting me this PhoneCam ****** case, Mrs. Mom! I'll make sure to practice with it before using it on the ship."

The working mother smiled warmly at him. "I know you will, honey. It's supposed to make every picture and video look like the ones taken from professional cameras."

Heading back downstairs, Nicole beamed with confidence now that everything was finished. Luggage, money, clean household, you name it! She approached the 2019 calendar hanging on the refrigerator as she entered the kitchen, taking out the red marker sticking above it. She marked an X on the day of May 5th, with all the other days starting at April 25th marked along with it. As she eyed the day of May 6th, with the words "Vacation Day" written on it, a wide smile of excitement appeared on her face.

"Seven Seas, here we come."

* * *

 **Finally, I thought I'd never get this chapter posted! Next will be the big moment where everyone boards the Seven Seas cruise, including some very special guests on board with them! I'll try to get it done as soon as possible when I'm not busy.**

 **Author's Note:**

 *** I did some research on the average salary for office workers, which is** **$12.25 per hour, and multiplied it by 12 hrs./week (84 hours in total), equating to $1,029**

 **** Darwin's PhoneCam case is based off the ZYTLUS case in real life. If you are confused by what it looks like, here's the link right here: ( /products/lite-series-camera-kit-for-iphone-6s)**

 **UPDATE (1/11/19): This story will be taking place in 2019 to keep up with the current year, so I made several changes to the dates throughout the chapters to correspond with it.**


	4. The Cruise

**Elmore Family Watterson**

 **Chapter 4: The Cruise**

* * *

Today was the day. The day of the Watterson family's departure for the Seven Seas cruise. To say everyone was eager to get out the house would be an understatement. In fact, they were downright ecstatic for this special occasion, to the point where they all got up extra early to get dressed for the big day. Nicole managed to wake up before everybody to make them all breakfast so no one would go hungry during the bus ride. She even made sure there was enough for her in-laws to show her gratitude to them for offering to watch over the house. As she noticed her husband coming out of his and her bedroom, along with her three kids walking down the stairs, carrying their suitcases to the front door, her two sons came over to her, both holding two comic books and a handheld game of their own, with the eldest holding a pack of batteries as an addition.

"Mom?" Gumball spoke up first. "I know you said we shouldn't bring any comic books or video games with us to distract us on the ship, but…"

"Can't we just use them on the bus ride so we wouldn't get bored along the way?" Darwin finished the sentence for his brother.

Now that the mother thought about it, it _was_ going to be a pretty long ride to the port, so why not have her sons occupy themselves to kill some time?

"Okay," she answered with a warm smile. "A couple of comic books and video games wouldn't hurt."

"Alright!" the two boys beamed as they went over to Gumball's backpack to pack up their final belongings.

As the family sat down at the table, they saw the food consisted of one of their favorite morning meals: pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice. So, they dug right in, finishing up every bite before their transport would arrive. Just as it was expected moments later, the shuttle bus of the Seven Seas cruise line pulled up in front of the house, honking its horn three times to let them know it was there.

The Watterson's raised their heads in alarm when they looked outside. Nicole was the first to stand straight up from the table.

"The bus is here! It's time to go!"

At an instant, the mother, father, and children threw their paper plates away, said goodbye to Granny Jojo and Grandpa Louie, and rushed out the door with all their luggage. Stopping at the side of the bus, the doors of the vehicle opened to reveal a certain working man who resided in the same town as them, smiling at the family of five as he sat at the wheel.

"Larry, you work for the cruise ship too?" Gumball questioned in a surprised tone.

"Not exactly," the rock man answered him. "I was just recently hired to take you all to the ship since I know the way from the city of Elmore to Port Coral."

Larry proceeded to give the family directions on entering the shuttle bus. "Since you all are here now, make sure you set all your suitcases and backpacks on these racks behind me before you take a seat."

The five individuals did as they were told and sat right next to each other, eager for takeoff.

"Sit tight you all. It'll take a while for us to get there."

The shuttle bus driver started the engine, turned the vehicle around on the opposite side of the road, and headed straight for its course, driving away from the Watterson household. Granny Jojo and Grandpa Louie came out to wave at their relatives until they were no longer in sight.

While driving, Larry continued to converse with the family. "So, this is your first cruise vacation, correct?"

Nicole smiled with excitement. "That's right! We actually won this trip for free online thanks to my two boys right here."

"Uh huh!" Gumball and Darwin happily admitted.

The rock man grinned at their answer. "That's great! Now, before you get on board, there are two important tips you should follow: Overeat and under sleep!"

Richard immediately beamed at this. "Now you're talking!"

Nicole and Anais giggled while Gumball and Darwin had the same expressions on their faces as their dad.

"Once you get on the Seven Seas, there'll be so many activities on board, you won't be able to stop! A limitless buffet, all-day waterpark and swimming pools, lively concerts, you name it! And if you ever want to relax, you can either visit the spa or just watch the ocean from the balcony while inside your cabin!"

"We're definitely looking forward to that!" The eldest Watterson child responded.

"And one more thing," Larry added. "If you ever get sea sick, which happens to most first-timers on the ship, you can either get an ear patch or eat a green apple. It certainly helps since I ate one myself on one of my jobs as a sailor."

Anais pulled out her note pad and wrote down the information being given. "Hmm, green apples…very interesting."

"A sailor? You really are well-rounded at everything!" Darwin commended the rock man at the wheel.

Larry blushed in appreciation. "Hey, it's what I do."

After a whole entire hour of traveling on the shuttle bus, passing by every car, watching the road, and, in Gumball and Darwin's case, reading comic books, playing video games, and checking the praising messages their classmates sent to them which exploded on their phones, the Watterson's were now approaching Port Coral, where the Seven Seas cruise ship, _the Seven Seas itself_ , stood big and proud, getting closer and closer in view as they got to the parking lot, much to the family of five's amazement. There were a couple of clicks heard from Darwin's cell phone as he took pictures of the scene through the window. The shuttle began to slow down until it stopped at the spot the driver chose.

"Here we are everyone!" Larry announced. "You may exit the shuttle safely and carefully."

The mother, father, and three kids got out with their backpacks and purses, observing the busy area around them. They noticed other families coming out of other shuttle buses as well. Gumball watched from afar as an entire family of thirteen (plus one extra child who may have been a guest) gathered together after exiting out of two shuttle buses each, much to his shock.

"Alright, Loud family!" The 12-year-old cat heard a man say to the group, who he assumed was the patriarch. "We gotta make sure we stick together at all times!"

With Darwin, he saw two separate families exit out of a single bus. One family had three aliens, two young adults (one man and one woman), and a little girl, while the other family had a man in a white lab coat and three multi-colored girls with superpowers.

"Keep close you all," he heard the young woman speak. "Especially you, Lilo and Stitch. I don't want you two running off just yet."

"We weren't going to do anything, Nani," the little girl sighed in annoyance, her blue alien companion right next to her.

The multi-colored girls flew around excitedly around the man in the lab coat. "We can't wait to get on the ship, Professor!"

"Calm down, girls. We'll be on there shortly," the man smiled in amusement.

As for Anais, she saw a shuttle much larger than the others, an entire group stepping out which was made up of a teacher and a class of seven children.

"Alright y'all," the teacher addressed his students. "Since we're representing the Westley School for Performing Arts, we're gonna make sure we give the Seven Seas one of the best shows yet!"

"We won't let you down, Sunny!" One of the students, a boy with a hat, responded.

At that moment, the Watterson family saw a group of small, yellow puff-shaped aliens wearing goggles approach all the shuttle buses; their work uniforms were all-white outfits consisting of a buttoned-up long-sleeved shirt with the cruise ship's "7S" symbol on the front left and two blue stripes at the ends of the sleeves, long pants with two blue stripes at the ends also, and black dress shoes. A group of three came towards them with a golden luggage cart, one of them tugging on Larry's pants to get his attention and handing him a card, which he immediately read.

"Oh, well what do you know? These are the bell boys who'll be gathering up your luggage for the ship."

Gumball raised one of his eyebrows in confusion as the little aliens took the suitcases out of the shuttle and onto the luggage cart.

"What are they though?"

One of the shorter aliens walked over to the 12-year-old cat and his family, handing a card over to Nicole and pointing to himself.

"Minion," he told the Watterson's happily.

"Minion?" The matriarch raised her eyebrow in confusion as well until realization hit her. "Oh, you're Minions!"

The smallest Minion nodded his head in agreement.

"Well, thank you very much for getting our luggage for us."

The little guy nodded again before helping his buddies out with the suitcases.

Larry smiled as he gave out his last instructions. "In order to get on board, you first have to go to that building over there…" he pointed to the Passenger building sitting right in front of the cruise. "…and check in with all your information so you can get your cabin cards. Just follow where everyone else is going."

"Thank you so much, Larry," Nicole told the rock man. "We appreciate everything you've done for us."

"No problem. Hope you all have a nice trip!" He waved to the family of five as they walked away.

"Thanks, Larry!" The rest of the Watterson's called out as they waved back and entered the Passenger building.

Now, it was a long process having to get checked in for the Seven Seas; the five members had to show their papers, including the sweepstakes letter and winning tickets, go through the security scanner, and get each one of their cabin cards processed (with all three of the kids getting cruise bands since they were 12 and under). Once the hard part was over, the Watterson family got their picture taken by a pony named Photo Finish and headed straight for the glass walkway leading to the entrance of the cruise, with Darwin keeping his phone out to record the whole moment.

"And so, it begins…" Gumball narrated in a dramatic tone. "Anticipation rose with each step the Watterson's took to set foot onto this boat of festivities."

Anais smirked at her eldest brother's antics. "Is that even necessary?"

"Let your brother have his moment," Nicole beamed at her youngest child. "This _is_ a life changing experience after all."

"I can just smell that buffet now!" Richard stated as he shook with eagerness.

Three whole minutes of strolling on the walkway had passed by when the Watterson's had finally set foot upon one of the decks of the exhilarating Seven Seas cruise, going through the entrance when a pink blur popped up right next to them, startling the five.

"Welcome to the Seven Seas cruise, where you'll enjoy ocean luxuries in the cool, relaxing breeze!"

The pink blur was revealed to be a light pink pony with a poofy dark pink mane and tail, bright blue eyes, and a cutie mark in the shape of three balloons, a yellow one in the middle and two blue ones sitting on each side; being a worker on the cruise, she wore a long-sleeved shirt with the cruise ship's "7S" symbol on the front left and two blue stripes at the ends of the sleeves. The hostess beamed brightly at the family as she welcomed them inside.

The Atrium (Deck 4) had quite an exquisite architecture, resembling a ballroom and shopping mall mixed in one; the entire area was decorated with silver metallic walls and a beautiful blue marble floor, which the Watterson's currently stood on. Two upper levels hovered above, blockaded by glass barriers and held up by two erected navy-blue pillars on each side. What connected all three of the levels together, however, was a silver spiral staircase cascading all the way to the Atrium floor on the right side, stopping behind a circular-shaped bar, and providing a similar shaped ceiling for it that doubled as a stage in the middle of the stairs, a color-changing chandelier shining upon the platform from the metallic silver ceiling. As to be expected, passengers onboard were either hanging around at the bar or relaxing on the comfy cobalt blue lounge chairs resting upon large circular blue rugs on either side of the bar. On the left side of the Atrium sat three glass elevators, the sunlight beaming down on them through the skylight glass hovered all the way to the top.

"Are you seeing all this?" Gumball questioned in an elated tone.

"Uh huh!" His four relatives nodded, impressed with the scenery in front of them.

The pink pony next to them got their attention. "If you think this whole entire Atrium is impressive, wait until you go up to Deck 9, the Lido deck! That's where all the other passengers are heading to right now since they're waiting for their cabins to get prepared!" She pointed her hoof towards the glass elevators next. "Since you're currently on Deck 4, you just take one of those shafts over there so you can go see the _real_ experience of the Seven Seas!"

As the Watterson's saw the location being pointed at, Nicole turned back to the excitable, yet helpful worker. "Thank you so much, Miss…"

"Pinkie Pie! Or Miss Pie, if that's what you want to call me."

Anais was the next one to speak up. "Excuse me, Ms. Pie, where can we find the Seven Seas cruise maps?"

"Easy peasy!" Pinkie smiled. "Mr. Peabody will hand you one at the Customer Service counter sitting right behind the elevators!"

Eyeing the place nearby, the family of five began to follow through with Pinkie's directions. The matriarch turned to the pony once again as they headed off, waving to her.

"Thanks again for all your help!"

Pinkie waved back, happy with helping another group of passengers.

"Anytime! Hope we meet again later!"

Grabbing their map from Customer Service, the Watterson's went straight to one of the mechanical shafts, going up from Deck 4 to Deck 9. Darwin still managed to record everything, with Gumball telling him what pictures to take along the way. It took a whole minute to get to the destination, but as they all made it, the excited family strolled through the hallway and headed towards the glass doors leading to where they presumed the other passengers were at, considering all the commotion and muffled music they could hear. Once the doors automatically slid open, no words could describe the marvelous sight before them!

"Oh, WOW!" all the Watterson's exclaimed.

Pinkie Pie wasn't kidding at all. This _was_ the real experience of the Seven Seas! Music was blasting throughout the whole outdoor Lido deck (which they recognized as Phil Collins' "Sussudio") while everyone was living it up in more ways than one; partying at the pools below and waterpark up above, chilling at the snack and drink bars, carrying around buffet food, and so on! The family of five even saw a ginormous TV screen sitting above the pools on the other side, which flashed the words "Welcome Aboard the Seven Seas!"

Nicole was the first to break out of her entrancement of the place. "Okay everyone!" she failed to hide the giddiness in her voice. "Let's go find someplace to sit before we do anything."

Following the mother, the family observed everything they passed by, with Darwin taking even more pictures and videos than ever at the same time.

"Take a picture of that! And that too! Oh, don't forget about that!" Gumball directed his younger brother in enthusiasm.

As the five individuals entered the Lido buffet, it was bustling yet welcoming at the same time; the area was decorated with a terracotta orange-tiled floor, rusty orange walls, and a copper ceiling installed with mini flush mount lights, giving off a warm atmosphere. People were either dining comfortably at their brown wooden tables/booths with terracotta orange cushions or moving from one station to another, standing in numerous lines to pick whichever meals they wanted. The aroma of food lingering in the air only made it even more gratifying, causing the Watterson's stomachs to growl. But nobody was as hungry as Richard, who was having a hard time restraining himself as he watched all the other passengers sitting down with their meals. Nicole noticed this and reminded him that they had to find an empty table first before getting anything to eat. It was quite packed which made the task even more daunting for the family, but after searching high and low several times, Anais found the perfect place.

"Hey, look! There's a booth over there right next to the Deli!" the youngest Watterson pointed out.

The mother was super relieved to see one of the few empty spots in the area, as well as everyone else. "Thank goodness! Let's go, you all."

Approaching the booth, the three kids sat on one side while the parents sat on the other. The boys even sat their backpacks under the table while Nicole and Anais kept their purses wrapped around them. Now that they settled down, Richard turned to his wife to ask her the question he's been dying to get off his chest the moment they stepped onto this deck.

"Nicole, can I _pleeeease_ get some food now?" he pleaded with her.

The blue cat woman warmly smiled. "Of course, sweetie."

"ALRIGHT!"

The ginormous pink rabbit was gone in less than a second, grabbing every single plate he could find at all the buffet stations he came across; Barbeque, Pizza, Fruits & Veggies, Baked Goods, you name it! All the other passengers, including the chefs and bakers, watched in shock as Richard piled up dish after dish in his hands.

"Ice Bear needs more pizzas and calzones." A chef named Ice Bear told a Minion right next to him at the Pizza station, who went straight into the kitchen behind them to alert his fellow Minions of more orders. They were grateful Flint Lockwood took the time to invent a couple of One-Minute Oven's for them to cook the food faster.

"Well, somebody seems to love our sweets." A guy named Tom Dupain smiled at his wife, Sabine Cheng at the Bakery station, with the latter heading straight into the back to grab more desserts.

"There's plenty more coming right up."

"Schnitzel, time to whip out more main dishes for the All-American station!" A chef named Mung Daal called to his assistant, a rock monster who was working hastily alongside a group of Minions to put out more food.

Gumball, Darwin, and Anais laughed at the ruckus their dad had caused in the Lido Buffet, along with Nicole, who knew her husband all too well. The four wanted to wait until the giant pink rabbit came back in order to get some food for themselves. Once he returned, Nicole stood up from the booth so he could sit down, with all the plates and drinks he grabbed almost filling the whole table, shocking any onlookers nearby.

"I'm back!" Richard greeted his family with a wide grin.

The Watterson matriarch turned to her three children. "Okay, looks like it's our turn."

Darwin was the next one to speak. "Gumball and I noticed this place called Kronk's Burger Joint, which we passed by on our way here."

"Now that you mention it…" Anais pondered. "I read from the book that their burgers were super good. So yeah, we should definitely go."

Gumball grew elated at this decision. "Kronk's Burger Joint it is!"

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Their mother began to lead the way.

As his wife and kids were leaving, Richard waved to them while he chowed down on his food. "Don't forget to get me one too!"

At the burger station, hungry customers were waiting in a long line to receive their meals, including Nicole and her three kids. Thankfully, it was getting shorter and shorter at every passing minute while the four Watterson members were trying to decide what to get off the menu Darwin took a picture of on the wall next to them.

"So, what are we all getting?" Nicole questioned her children after looking at the food items on her middle son's cellphone.

Gumball looked like he was stuck. "Aw geez, it's really hard to decide."

"Same here," his two younger siblings commented.

"I know how you guys feel."

An unknown voiced agreed with the Watterson kids. When Gumball turned his head, he saw in front of him, a boy smiling at him; he was a freckled, buck-toothed Caucasian 11-year-old with short white hair, a large tuft of it sticking out, and he wore an orange polo shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers with red stripes.

"I don't really know what to choose myself. My little sister on the other hand…" he pointed to a younger girl in front of him. "…keeps changing her mind every second."

The girl was a 6-year-old Caucasian with short blonde hair in low pigtails, wearing a backwards red baseball cap, a murky green T-shirt under dark blue overalls, and white sneakers with blue stripes; she also had a large gap at the front of her teeth, which showed whenever she spoke. Now, she was struggling with what burger she wanted.

"Um, do I want the Big Ring? No, uh, how about the Bacon Blast? No, wait…"

"Hey, you guys," a boy in front of the young girl got her and her older brother's attention; he was a freckled African-American with black hair in an afro who wore round black glasses with blue-tinted lenses, a long-sleeved blue and yellow striped shirt with a white collar, black pants, and black tennis shoes with three white stripes and white laces.

"How's about we just get the Main Plain's and head over to the Toppings Bar to put whatever we want on our burgers? That's what everyone else is doing."

The bespectacled boy was right. Nearly all the passengers got plain burgers and were adding extra items to their meals at the place he mentioned nearby.

"Well, what do you know?" The white-haired boy responded. "Main Plain's then." He looked down at his younger sister. "Do you want to go with that, sis?"

The 6-year-old beamed, making her final decision. "Sure!"

Nicole smiled at the African-American boy's suggestion. "Well, if that's what you say, young man, my three kids and I will get the same."

Gumball, Darwin, and Anais nodded in agreement.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Let's go with that."

As everyone received their Main Plain burgers (Nicole getting two for both herself and Richard) with fries on the side from Kronk, the cook who had the burger division named after him, they headed over to the Toppings Bar while conversing with one another still.

"My name's Lincoln Loud by the way," the white-haired boy introduced himself to the four Watterson members. "And over here…" he gestured to the young pig-tailed girl right next to him. "…is my sister, Lana Loud."

"Hello!" she smiled at them.

"And I'm Clyde McBride, Lincoln's best friend," the bespectacled boy spoke up next.

"I'm Gumball Watterson," the 12-year-old cat stepped up first. "And these two…" he gestured to his younger siblings. "…are my brother and sister."

"Hi, I'm Darwin!" The 10-year-old goldfish greeted in a chipper tone. The 4-year-old rabbit went with a more professional approach. "Anais. A pleasure to meet you."

The Watterson matriarch smiled as her three children were already starting to make new friends.

"And I'm their mother, Nicole Watterson. Is this your first time on the cruise too?"

"It sure is! Well, for half of my family, including myself," Lincoln answered, recalling the whole swapping fiasco due to the termites invading the Loud household. "We had to save up _a lot_ of money for this trip."

Gumball pondered over his thoughts a bit before speaking. "Come to think of it…weren't you three with that family from earlier who took two separate buses to get here?"

The white-haired boy looked at him in shock, blushing in embarrassment next while looking off to the side. "Oh, so you noticed. Well, let me just say that a family of thirteen isn't something you see every day. It's my mom, dad, and ten sisters. I'm both the middle child and only boy of my siblings."

The four Watterson members froze in shock while in the middle of gathering their toppings, astonished at what the 11-year-old just said.

"Say WHAT?!" Gumball, Darwin, and Anais exclaimed at the same time, getting the attention of onlookers around them.

"You have TEN SISTERS?! There's ELEVEN OF YOU?!" Nicole questioned with wide eyes. It was already busy enough for her to take care of three kids. She couldn't possibly imagine what it was like with eight more.

Lana Loud nodded happily as if there was nothing abnormal about her own family.

"That's right!"

"Yeah," Lincoln agreed. "Our family is so large, my parents had to order tickets separately to assure we all came along."

"I just happened to tag along with them since they accidentally got an extra ticket for their baby, who they forgot was allowed to go for free," Clyde stated.

After everyone finished gathering up their desired toppings, they began to head off in their own separate ways, but not before giving their farewells.

"So, we'll see you guys around, right?" Darwin asked the three kids he and his family recently met.

"Most definitely!" Lincoln answered. "In fact, you might see one of my other sisters around here since some of them are working on this ship."

"We'll make sure to keep an eye out for them then," Nicole smiled warmly.

Lana began to tug on her brother's arm impatiently. "Lincoooln! I'm starving!"

The white-haired boy turned to the younger girl next to him before turning back to the Watterson's. "Well, we better get going. My sister gets cranky when she doesn't eat. Bye for now!"

Clyde followed Lincoln and Lana while waving to the family. "See you guys later!"

"Bye!" the four Watterson members waved back.

While on their way back to the buffet, the kids got some ice cream and lemonade to go along with their burger meals, with their mother getting a beverage of her own. They weren't surprised at all when they came back to see a bunch of empty plates being collected by a couple of Minion waiters as Richard sat at the booth not yet satisfied. As they settled down, with Nicole giving her husband his burger while she had her own in front of her, the whole family dug into their food at the same time. Their eyes immediately went wide at the savory taste of the fresh sandwiches they bit into, falling into a state of bliss as the juicy meat filled their mouths.

"This is SOOO good!" Gumball joyfully stated after swallowing his first bite.

"Totally!" Darwin chimed in.

Anais gave her own thoughts as well. "These really _are_ the best burgers on the ship!"

Nicole and Richard were just as elated as their kids.

"We should definitely get these whenever we come in here!"

"I should've gotten two burgers instead of one! It's like a meat-filled paradise biting into this!"

The Watterson family continued to enjoy their main courses, along with the hot, crispy fries, refreshing lemonades, and in the children's case, sweet and cold ice cream. The more they ate their Main Plain's, the more it filled their bellies, and while the parents got to finish theirs, the three kids were getting super full just eating half.

"I don't think I can eat anymore," Anais commented in a weary tone as she stared at her half-eaten burger. "I'll have to save this for later."

"Tell me about it," Darwin agreed, feeling as stuffed as his sister. "We got to finish everything else except these."

It was no different for Gumball either. "My head says 'yes,' but my stomach says 'no.' Either way, I'm going to try to finish up mine's."

Both of his siblings looked at him as if he grew a second head.

"Are you serious, dude?!"

"Are you _trying_ to torture yourself?"

Nicole gave her eldest son a concerned smile. "Honey, you don't need to do that. We're allowed to take our food to the cabin with us."

Richard, on the other hand, tried to reach out for the 12-year-old's half-eaten burger. "Can I finish it for you?"

The small blue cat pulled his plate away from his dad and had a look of determination on his face. "Nope. I'm not letting this go to waste. I'm going to finish it no matter what."

Gumball ended up keeping his word. He ate the last remains of his food in three long, agonizing bites while chugging it down with his cup of lemonade. Looking at his now empty plate, he sighed in satisfaction, proud of his accomplishment. The rest of his family, sans his father, shook their heads in amusement, wondering how someone like him could be so reckless. Suddenly, the speaker above them cracked to life, with three melodic rings sounding throughout the entire ship.

" _Attention, passengers! This is Co-Captain Minnie Mouse speaking. All cabins are now prepared for everyone to settle into, along with all your luggage sitting right by the doors of your chosen cabins. Please make sure to check your documents to see what the number of your cabin is, as well as what floor it's sitting on."_

Goofy's voice was heard next on the speaker.

" _We hope you'll enjoy your stay on the Seven Seas, where you'll enjoy ocean luxuries in the cool, relaxing breeze! Hyuck!"_

When the announcement ended, Nicole took the documents out from her purse and set her eyes on upon the number of the family's chosen cabin.

#8-298

"Room #8-298," she read it aloud. "If I'm correct, then that must be right below this deck."

"Great!" Anais smiled. "That means if we ever want to go swimming or get more food, we'll just take the stairs instead of waiting at the elevators."

Instantly, the Watterson matriarch began to take charge.

"So, what are we waiting for? We're already done eating, so let's go to our cabin right now."

Everyone got up from their booth, with the boys grabbing their backpacks from under the table, and exited out the buffet towards the entrance they came in through earlier, along with all the other passengers doing the same. Heading down the stairs in the hall, they made it onto Deck 8 and looked in both directions, noticing there were separate hallways for the Odd Number cabins on one side and the Even Number cabins on the other. Since the Watterson family's cabin had an even number, they went into the direction of the latter. It only took them 3 minutes to find their chosen room, so as they stopped by Room #8-298, they noticed all their luggage sitting neatly against the wall on top of each other. Taking her I.D. card out, Nicole slid it into the door slot and opened said door for the rest of her family as they took their suitcases inside.

In all honesty, the cabin had quite a roomy feel to it, with creamy-colored walls, navy blue carpet, and a door and window that led to the balcony all the way at the end. On the right side of the room was a comfy looking king-sized bed, a warm-colored sofa with a coffee table sitting across, a fold-out bed on the wall hovering above the sofa, and a door to the bathroom; on the left side was a desk with drawers and cabinets, a large mirror sitting above, and a flat screen TV hanging on the upper wall.

"I can't wait until this ship sets sail. I bet there'll be some real awesome sights for me to capture!" Darwin smiled.

Gumball gazed around the room after sitting his stuff in front of the couch, nodding in a satisfactory manner. "Looks comfortable. I could get used to this."

Richard himself sat his suitcase beside the bed and laid flat upon the soft furniture. "Ah, this is the life."

Nicole opened the door to the balcony to look outside, along with her young daughter.

"Isn't this amazing, sweetie?"

"It sure is."

Both Watterson girls could feel the warm sun upon them and smell the cool ocean breeze as they saw Port Coral right below them. That's when an idea popped into their heads.

"Hey, Darwin, do you mid taking a picture of us over here?" the mother waved to her middle son.

The face on the 10-year-old brightened up on this request. "Here I come!"

Striking a pose from where they were standing, the girls smiled as the young goldfish captured a photo of them and were satisfied when he went over to show them the scene on his phone. Afterwards, he too was entranced by the view of the ocean and the port, taking in the whole scenery. Suddenly, he heard splashes from down below and he laid his eyes on something moving in the water. Excitement grew inside of him when he realized there were two large creatures swimming beside one another.

"Dolphins! There are dolphins swimming down there!"

Nicole and Anais caught sight of what Darwin was pointing at and became just as giddy as him.

"That's incredible!"

"Now that's something you don't see every day!"

Gumball and Richard came right out when they heard the commotion.

"Did you say there are dolphins outside?!"

"I want to see them too!"

Two large dolphins swam side by side on the surface of the water, going up and under every few seconds. Darwin managed to capture the moment through video, not wanting to miss it for the world. This would be a great part to put in the slide show presentation he and Gumball would create once they return home! Once the aquatic animals were out of sight underwater, the eldest Watterson child turned to his family.

"Since we're all in our rooms now, you think they'll tell us when we're setting sail?"

Nicole looked back inside at the small television hanging on the wall and the intercom on the ceiling. "Maybe they'll let us know on the TV or speaker."

Heading back inside the room, Gumball sat on the couch and grabbed the remote off the small table in front of him, turning on the television to search through every channel for the take-off time while his brother Darwin sat beside him to help. At the same time, Anais was showing the Seven Seas map to both her parents, pointing out what was included on each deck to see where they wanted to explore through.

"Deck 5 is where they have most of the shops at, including one called the Candy Cavern, which I assume is the candy shop."

"Alright!" Richard, Gumball, and Darwin exclaimed happily, with Nicole shaking her head in amusement. The youngest girl was excited about it too, but mostly kept it to herself as she was still going over the map.

"There's even an arcade and a couple of cafes included down there."

"Did you hear that, buddy?" Gumball nudged his younger brother. "Looks like we found out what one of our favorite hang-out spots will be on here!"

A wide smile grew on Darwin's face hearing this. "Can't wait to see what games they'll have there!"

Their sister continued to list off the other decks. "Of course, we already know about the pools and buffet on the Lido deck, but on Deck 10, they have a steakhouse and barbeque, a spa and gym on Deck 11, and a place called the Kids Kove on Deck 12, where most of the kids on here will probably meet up at."

"Well, looks like you and your brothers might meet some new friends there, and those three kids we met from earlier might be there too," the Watterson matriarch beamed.

The eldest child shrugged. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

Out of the blue, three melodic rings came through the speaker on the cabin ceiling, which signaled another announcement throughout the entire ship. Even the TV automatically changed to display the important message.

" _Attention all passengers! This is Co-Captain Mickey Mouse speaking! The time is now 3:00 pm. In 10 minutes, we will be performing a lifeboat drill at the muster stations outside on Deck 4. As you all stand in your assigned muster stations as stated on your Seven Seas identity cards, each worker will perform a demonstration of how to properly put your lifejackets on in case of any disasters we encounter out at sea. Six blasts will be released, including one long blast at the end, as a signal for everyone to come to Deck 4 immediately. We'll gladly appreciate your participation in this drill for your own safety. Captain Mickey Mouse out!"_

The Watterson family turned to one another once the announcement was over.

"A safety drill?" Gumball questioned. "Isn't the ship already stable enough to keep us safe?"

"Well, you never know what dangers will lie ahead," Anais advised her older brother. "So, we gotta be prepared for anything that comes out way."

Nicole stood up from the bed and began to pick up her suitcase, approaching one of the three closets near the door.

"Before they sound that alarm, let's make sure we put all our belongings away."

Everyone followed through with the mother's request by setting their things inside the cabin closets one at a time, along with the matriarch taking some of her hard-earned cash and setting it inside a safe hidden in one of the cabinets while keeping the rest of it in her purse. She even double-checked to make sure she had each of her family member's identity cards so they would pass the inspection at the muster stations. As it was anticipated from earlier, the cruise released six short blasts and a seventh long one at the end, signaling everyone onboard to leave their cabins immediately.

"That's our cue. Let's go."

Nicole led all the Watterson members out the hallway, where they were met with a huge crowd of other passengers exiting out of Deck 8 to walk downstairs to Deck 4. Even though everyone was walking at a moderate pace, the family of five made sure to stick close together to prevent any one of them from getting lost. The large group headed down from one flight to the next (ten flights of stairs to be exact), which felt like forever, until they finally made it to Deck 4, each passenger heading out in separate directions to stand at their assigned muster stations. The Watterson family stood at Muster E and waited for any upcoming instructions from the Main Staff within their group, with 20 minutes passing by (3:20 pm) as individuals from the other decks came outside.

"Man, this is so boring," a boy named George Beard murmured to his best friend, Harold Hutchins, behind the three Watterson kids.

"I know, right?" Harold whispered back. "I doubt anything bad will happen to us all while we're on vacation. Plus, I was just about to draw out the best part of our new comic book."

A group of Minions separated from one another to help any confused passengers by checking their Seven Seas cards and directing them to the right spots, as well as inspecting the cards of those already in their groups. Once the entire inspection was over (which went on for about 10 whole minutes), other members of the cruise staff stepped in to give lifejacket demonstrations to each of the stations.

"Good day, everyone! My name is Egbert and I'll be showing you all how to properly put your lifejackets on."

A man named Egbert greeted the passengers at Muster E with a jolly tone; he was short, plump and elderly with a round head and no visible neck, smooth grey hair and a full beard, a stubby red nose, and black sunglasses. He wore the standard Seven Seas staff outfit, consisting of a buttoned-up long-sleeved shirt with the cruise ship's "7S" symbol on the front left and two blue stripes at the ends of the sleeves, long pants with two blue stripes at the ends also, and black dress shoes.

On the right of the Watterson family stood a blue hedgehog named Sonic, who was quietly chuckling to himself as he saw the man in front of him. Egbert reminded him of a shorter, older version of his arch-nemesis, but with different features. Of course, it would be impossible for that evil genius to be on this ship! Last thing he wanted was for his vacation to be ruined because of that man! So, he pulled himself together before his buddy Tails (who was right next to him) would notice and paid close attention. Throughout the demonstration, Egbert displayed how to tighten up a lifejacket around the body with the black strap once he slipped it on, as well as show off the special features the jacket included, such as a whistle, flashing light, and high visibility fabric with light reflective patches. Nicole and Anais made sure to take in all the knowledge that was being provided to them, especially the latter, who soaked all the information into her head like a sponge. Richard, Gumball, and Darwin on the other hand were itching for this drill to be over so they could get back to the exciting parts of this cruise. After 20 whole minutes had passed by with the demonstrations, as the time was now 4:00 pm, the muster drill was finally over, which felt like eternity to the Watterson boys. The passengers were allowed back inside the ship, but not before the staff told them one last thing.

"The Seven Seas cruise will be setting sail in 30 minutes at 4:30 p.m., everyone!"

Entering inside the Atrium, the Watterson family contemplated on what to do next until Nicole spoke up first.

"So, you all want to return to our cabin to set up our things and watch the ship take off from outside?"

When the four other members thought it over, they all grinned and nodded in agreement.

"Sure, let's go for it," Anais answered.

"We might end up capturing that awesome moment on camera!" Gumball beamed at Darwin right next to him.

"That's a great idea!"

"To the cabin it is!" Richard pointed to the ceiling enthusiastically, which he meant for the upper level.

"Then it settled," The matriarch finalized as she led the way to the elevators. "Let's head back upstairs!"

Everyone followed her to the glass elevators, eager to witness one of the most exciting moments of this cruise vacation in person!

* * *

A/N: Finally, I thought I was never going to get this chapter out! Looks like the Watterson's have already settled onto this fun-filled boat! Hope you all caught on to some special guest appearances, as well as some hints of foreshadowing for later.

Important Notes:

\- I made the Seven Seas cruise into a fusion of both the Carnival Liberty and Carnival Breeze

\- Some of the events in this chapter are based off of my personal experiences on the cruise

\- For Egbert, he's not an OC, but an actual cartoon character! Have you guys figured out who be might be?

\- As for the Watterson family's vacation attire, they won't be getting those until the next chapter

I made this chapter extra long to make up for lost time. Hopefully, this will satisfy you all while I'm working on the next chapter. Chapter 5 coming soon!


End file.
